Abstract
The idea of using natural fibers as filler in various polymers has been extensively studied. Various types of natural fibers and polymers have been identified and it can be varied according to the particular application and the two main composite materials will have advantages and disadvantages of each. However, natural fibers are usually selected as filler because it is readily available and environmentally friendly, inexpensive, non-toxic, biodegradable and still have good characteristics for a variety of uses. In this study, four types of natural fiber have been used which; coconut shell, coconut fiber, corn cob, and pineapple skin, as fillers in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The mixing process conducted through melt mixing techniques. The percentage of TPU and natural fibers are 100/0, 95/5, 90/10 and 85/15. Different type of fiber will affect the mechanical properties of the composites and have been studied through tensile testing. It showed that the result for pineapple fiber at 5% was the highest and can also be related to the characterizations of this composite that have been studied via the SEM morphology. Swelling testing is also having been done to prove the absorbency ability by natural fiber composites in cooking oil and engine oil. Then it concluded that the pineapple fiber absorbed large amount of both oil compared to others.
Highlights
Natural fibers play an important role in developing high performance biodegradable composites which are the key material in solving nowadays environmental and 3R (Recycle-Reuse-Reduce) issues, because due to its low cost as well as easy to degrade [1]
We investigated the effect of four types of natural fiber as filler in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), with different content of filler (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%) on tensile strength and the morphology
This figure illustrated the evolution of the tensile strength and a marked highest was observed at 5% of pineapple fiber, 10% of coconut husk, 15% of coconut shell and 10% of corncob, when we not compared it to the neat TPU sample
Summary
Natural fibers play an important role in developing high performance biodegradable composites which are the key material in solving nowadays environmental and 3R (Recycle-Reuse-Reduce) issues, because due to its low cost as well as easy to degrade [1]. There are several recent studies that combined the natural fiber and TPU, found it to produce some of the unique properties, such as TPU/kenaf by El-Shekeil et al [4] and Janus & Patrycja [5]. Many researchers have been studied natural fiber in polymer composites and it’s mechanical, morphological properties in order to investigate the compatibility of fiber/polymer composites. We investigated the effect of four types of natural fiber as filler in TPU, with different content of filler (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%) on tensile strength and the morphology. We determined the swelling percentage of the composite for the optimum content of filler in cooking oil and engine oil, to study the level of oil absorption by the composite of the four types of filler
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